6:060 Curriculum Content

The curriculum shall contain instruction on subjects required by State statute or regulation as follows:

In kindergarten through grade 8, subjects include: (a) language arts, (b) reading, (c) other communication skills, (d) science, (e) mathematics, (f) social studies, (g) art, (h) music, and (i) drug and substance abuse prevention, including the dangers of opioid abuse. A reading opportunity of 60 minutes per day will be promoted for all students in kindergarten through grade 3 whose reading levels are one grade level or more lower than their current grade level. Daily time of at least 30 minutes (with a minimum of at least 15 consecutive minutes if divided) will be provided for supervised, unstructured, child-directed play for all students in kindergarten through grade 5. Before the completion of grade 5, students will be offered at least one unit of cursive instruction. In grades 6, 7, or 8, students must receive at least one semester of civics education in accordance with Illinois Learning Standards for social science.
In grades 9 through 12, subjects include: (a) language arts, (b) writing intensive course, (c) science, (d) mathematics, (e) social studies including U.S. history, American government and one semester of civics, (f) foreign language, (g) music, (h) art, (i) driver and safety education, and (j) vocational education.

Students otherwise eligible to take a driver education course must receive a passing grade in at least eight courses during the previous two semesters before enrolling in the course. The Superintendent or designee may waive this requirement if he or she believes a waiver to be in the student’s best interest. The course shall include: (a) instruction necessary for the safe operation of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, to the extent that they can be taught in the classroom, (b) classroom instruction on distracted driving as a major traffic safety issue, (c) instruction on required safety and driving precautions that must be observed at emergency situations, highway construction and maintenance zones, and railroad crossings and their approaches, and (d) instruction concerning law enforcement procedures for traffic stops, including a demonstration of the proper actions to be taken during a traffic stop and appropriate interactions with law enforcement. Automobile safety instruction covering traffic regulations and highway safety must include instruction on the consequences of alcohol consumption and the operation of a motor vehicle. The eligibility requirements contained in State law for the receipt of a certificate of completion from the Secretary of State shall be provided to students in writing at the time of their registration.

In grades 7 through 12, as well as in interscholastic athletic programs, steroid abuse prevention must be taught.
In kindergarten through grade 12, provided it can be funded by private grants or the federal government, violence prevention and conflict resolution must be stressed, including: (a) causes of conflict, (b) consequences of violent behavior, (c) non-violent resolution, and (d) relationships between drugs, alcohol, and violence. In addition, anti-bias education and intergroup conflict resolution may be taught as an effective method for preventing violence and lessening tensions in schools; these prevention methods are most effective when they are respectful of individuals and their divergent viewpoints and religious beliefs, which are protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
In grades kindergarten through 12, age-appropriate Internet safety must be taught, the scope of which shall be determined by the Superintendent or designee. The curriculum must incorporate policy 6:235, Access to Electronic Networks, and, at a minimum, include: (a) education about appropriate online behavior, (b) interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and (c) cyberbullying awareness and response.
In all grades, students must receive developmentally appropriate opportunities to gain computer literacy skills that are embedded in the curriculum.
In all grades, character education must be taught including respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, trustworthiness, and citizenship in order to raise students’ honesty, kindness, justice, discipline, respect for others, and moral courage. Instruction in all grades will include examples of behaviors that violate policy 7:180, Prevention of and Response to Bullying, Intimidation, and Harassment.
In all schools, citizenship values must be taught, including: (a) American patriotism, (b) principles of representative government (the American Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, (c) proper use and display of the American flag, (d) the Pledge of Allegiance, and (e) the voting process.
In all grades, physical education must be taught including a developmentally planned and sequential curriculum that fosters the development of movement skills, enhances health-related fitness, increases students’ knowledge, offers direct opportunities to learn how to work cooperatively in a group setting, and encourages healthy habits and attitudes for a healthy lifestyle. Unless otherwise exempted, all students are required to engage in a physical education course with such frequency as determined by the Board after recommendation from the Superintendent, but at a minimum of three days per five-day week. For exemptions and substitutions, see policies 6:310, High School Credit for Non-District Experiences; Course Substitutions; Re-Entering Students and 7:260, Exemption from Physical Education.
In all schools, health education must be stressed, including: (a) proper nutrition, (b) physical fitness, (c) components necessary to develop a sound mind in a healthy body, (d) dangers and avoidance of abduction, and (e) age-appropriate and evidence-informed sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention education in all grades. The Superintendent shall implement a comprehensive health education program in accordance with State law.
In all schools, career/vocational education must be taught, including: (a) the importance of work, (b) the development of basic skills to enter the world of work and/or continue formal education, (c) good work habits and values, (d) the relationship between learning and work, and (e) if possible, a student work program that provides the student with work experience as an extension of the regular classroom. A career awareness and exploration program must be available at all grade levels.
In grades 9 through 12, consumer education must be taught, including: (a) financial literacy, including consumer debt and installment purchasing (including credit scoring, managing credit debt, and completing a loan application); budgeting; savings and investing; banking (including balancing a checkbook, opening a deposit account, and the use of interest rates); understanding simple contracts; State and federal income taxes; personal insurance policies; the comparison of prices; higher education student loans; identity-theft security; and homeownership (including the basic process of obtaining a mortgage and the concepts of fixed and adjustable rate mortgages, subprime loans, and predatory lending); and (b) the roles of consumers interacting with agriculture, business, labor unions and government in formulating and achieving the goals of the mixed free enterprise system.
Beginning in the fall of 2022, in grades 9 through 12, intensive instruction in computer literacy, which may be included as part of English, social studies or any other subject.
Beginning in the fall of 2022, in grades 9 through 12, a unit of instruction on media literacy that includes but is not limited to, all of the following topics; (a) accessing information to evaluate media platforms and better understand the general landscape and economics of the platforms, and issues regarding the trustworthiness of the source of information; (b) analyzing and evaluating media messages to deconstruct media representations according to the authors, target audience, techniques, agenda setting, stereotypes, and authenticity to distinguish fact from opinion; (c) creating media to convey a coherent message using multimodal practices to a specific target audience that includes but is not limited to, writing blogs, composing songs, designing video games, producing podcasts, making videos, or coding a mobile or software application; (d) reflecting on media consumption to assess how media affects the consumption of information and how it triggers emotions and behavior; and (e) social responsibility and civics to suggest a plan of action in the class, school, or community for engaging others in a respectful, thoughtful and inclusive dialogue over a specific issue using facts and reason.
Beginning in the fall of 2023, in grades 9 through 12, an opportunity for students to take at least one computer science course aligned to Illinois learning standards. Computer science means the study of computers and algorithms, including their principles, hardware and software designs, implementation, and impact on society. Computer science does not include the study of everyday uses of computers and computer applications; e.g. keyboarding or accessing the Internet.
In all schools, conservation of natural resources must be taught, including: (a) home ecology, (b) endangered species, (c) threats to the environment, and (d) the importance of the environment to life as we know it.
In all schools, United States (U.S.) history must be taught, including: (a) the principles of representative government, (b) the Constitutions of the U.S. and Illinois, (c) the role of the U.S. in world affairs, (d) the role of labor unions, (e) the role and contributions of ethnic groups, including but not limited to, the African Americans, Albanians, Asian Americans, Bohemians, Czechs, French, Germans, Hispanics (including the events related to the forceful removal and illegal deportation of Mexican-American U.S. citizens during the Great Depression), Hungarians, Irish, Italians, Lithuanians, Polish, Russians, Scots, and Slovakians in the history of this country and State, (f) a study of the roles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the history of the U.S. and Illinois, (g) Illinois history and (h) the contributions made to society by Americans of different faith practices, including but not limited to, Muslim Americans, Jewish Americans, Christian Americans, Hindu Americans, Sikh Americans, Buddhist Americans, and any other collective community of faith that has shaped America.
In grade 7 and all high school courses concerning U.S. history or a combination of U.S. history and American government, students must view a Congressional Medal of Honor film made by the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, provided there is no cost for the film.
In all schools, the curriculum includes instruction as determined by the Superintendent or designee on the Holocaust and crimes of genocide, including Nazi atrocities of 1933-1945, Armenian Genocide, the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine, and more recent atrocities in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan.
In all schools, the curriculum includes instruction as determined by the Superintendent or designee on the history, struggles, and contributions of women.
In all schools, the curriculum includes instruction as determined by the Superintendent or designee on Black History, including the history of the pre-enslavement of Black people from 3,000 BCE to AD 1619, the African slave trade, slavery in America, the study of the reasons why Black people came to be enslaved, the vestiges of slavery in this country, the study of the American civil rights renaissance, as well as the struggles and contributions of African-Americans.
In all schools offering a secondary agricultural education program, the curriculum includes courses as required by 105 ILCS 5/2-3.80.
In all schools, instruction during courses as determined by the Superintendent or designee on disability history, awareness, and the disability rights movement.
Beginning in the fall of 2022, in all schools, instruction as determined by the Superintendent or designee on the events of Asian American history, including the history of Asian Americans in Illinois and the Midwest, as well as the contributions of Asian Americans toward advancing civil rights from the 19th century onward, which must include the contributions made by individual Asian Americans in government and the arts, humanities, cultural, social and political development of the United States.
In kindergarten through grade 8, education must be available to students concerning effective methods of preventing and avoiding traffic injuries related to walking and bicycling.

In addition, all schools shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on Constitution Day, each September 17, commemorating the September 17, 1787 signing of the Constitution. However, when September 17 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, Constitution Day shall be held during the preceding or following week.

Cross Reference:

4:165 Awareness and Prevention of Child Sex Abuse and Grooming Behaviors

6:020 School Year Calendar and Day

6:040 Curriculum Development and Instructional Resources

6:070 Teaching About Religions

6:235 Access to Electronic Networks

7:180 Prevention of and Response to Bullying, Intimidation, and Harassment

7:185 Teen Dating Violence Prohibited

7:190 Student Discipline

7:260 Exemption from Physical Activity

Legal Reference(s):

5 ILCS 465/3 and 465/3a.